Modification of b. a.-type wool to impart harshness and low luster thereto



.have a certain harshness of texture.

Patented Dec. 19, 1950 PATENT OFFICE MODIFICATION. or 11. Ala- YPE WOOL T0 IMPART tHAnsHuEss AND Low LUSTER E. Swansom=Suflield, -Oonn., assignor to Biselow-$arrford Qarpet 6.0., Ina, Thompson! ville, .iConna summa on of Massach e ts No Drawing, Applica'tion June 29, "11949,

Serial No.102f151 3 .Claims.

. 1 The presentinvention Off wool toimprove the -phvsical properties of :the wool and more particularly to a treatment which will enh nce the harshnessof the wool while at the same time decreasing its lustre. 1

the manufacture of .pile fabric floor coverby the established-operations peculiar te this jfield, including the carding, spinning, dyeing,

etc. of the fiber, it is necessary that th wool tion, the wool in thepile tufts of the completed product should have a low degree of lustre.

, B. ,A.-type wool, is so deficient in harshness that it has not been possible to vprocess it into carpets or rugs by the established procedure and with the equipment presently installed in carpet manufacturing plan which procedure and equipment operate successfully with the conventional, harsher, carpet :wools. Because of the wool fibers, great care and constant attention ,must be exercised throughout the processing of 'the'wool and the yarn and the weaving thereof.

The resulting product is in a sense a hand-made article and commercial production by the estabfished-practice is not feasible.

it is :an object of the present i'mVentiQn to emwide a process for liarshenms a d delustelti s B. .,A.-1;ype tvotls thereby to -.extend their use :in

commercial basis pile rabri-c'flnor coverings consisting entirely of 'B. -A.-type :wools -modified fby my process. The treatment of my invention also decreases the lustre of the wool.

I have discovered that by treating these soft, silk-like, lustrous, slippery B. A.-type wools with an aqueous solution of titanyl sulfate, i. e., TlOSOi, preferably in a bath containing the titanyl sulfate, the fibers of these wools are rendered harsher so that they may be handled by the methods conventional in the carpet manua facturing industry, in which methods the harsher conventional carpet wools are used. Also, at the same time, the lustre of said fibers, which is undesirable in conventional domestic rugs and carpets, is decreased.

relates to the treatment soft, slippery, silk-like nature of the B. A.-type- I prefer to immerse the wool in an unheated titanyl sulfate bath so that the compound may thoroughly impregnate the woolstock before the high temperature is applied, since the modification of the wooloccurs very rapidly at the higher temperatures.

The following is given as an example aofmy progress; 7

A batch of raw B. A. woolstook weighing aboutQQO pounds is immersed-ma treating bath comprising about 4,090 gallons of cold watercontaining 18 .ipG'llfldS of titanyl sulfate dissolved therein. The bath is brought .to the ,boil and :maintained at the boiling pointforabout 2.0 min- 'utes. Thereafter, thewool is removed from-the -bath,-rinsedin running tap wateranddried. The resulting modified wool can be processed into pile ifa'brie. floor covering by the conventional procedures employed with :the usual carpet wools "with no more than normal .care and attention...

I prefer that the treating 'zbath be kept at the 'boilduring the treatment, as in the foregoing example. and that the wool be gkept in the bath at or near :boil for a period of approximately 5 :to :15-.minutes. However, satisiactory modification of the wool may be obtained .at lower temperatures by allowing the wool to remain standing in the bath .tor corresnendingly longer pc.- riods of time. In this case, the titanyl sulfate may Joe incorporated in the loath in thesame proportion used with the boiling bath.

iGonveniently, itIhB wool may be subjected :to the treatment of this inventionconcurrentlywith --acid dyeing" of "the wool. The following example illustrates treatment of the wool in this way.

' Preliminary to the acid dyeing operation I .add to the bath of cold .dye liquor 2% of titanyl sulfate, based on the weight of the meal.

tl.tyne wool, urefer-ably, in rays/stuck -f .is then immersedin the ibarthandu-subjeeted to the mormaltdveins pera ion, in W.-hich theabath is brought to the boil and the wool exposed to the action of the hot titanyl sulfate and during which operation the wool will absorb substantially the entire titanyl sulfate content of the bath. The titanyl sulfate used in the present invention is compatible with all acid dyes.

I have found that the proportion of titanyl sulfate present in the treating liquid may be varied, depending upon the degree of modification to be imparted to the wool and upon the temperature of the treatment, but the bath should be sufficiently dilute to cause substantial hydrolysis of the titanyl compound. I prefer to include in the bath amounts of the titanyl sulfate ranging from about 1% up to about 10%, by weight of the wool to be treated, preferably about 2%, when the mode of treatment employed is a standing bath as described above.

Another mode of treatment is to treat the wool with the titanyl sulfate as a continuous operation in a moving stream of treating liquid. Thus the Wool may be treated as it is subjected to the rinsing operation which normally follows the scouring operation in the preparation of wool fibers for use in pile fabric floor coverings. This procedure is particularly useful with wools which are not to be dyed but are to be manufactured into yarn of their natural color. In many cases the rinsing following the scouring operation is carried out with water at a temperature of about l40160 F. The titanyl sulfate content of the rinse bath should approximate 1% to 8% prefer ably about 2% ,of the weight of the Wool. The wool is passed through the rinsing tank in a continuous operation and the titanyl sulfate therefore must be continually supplied to the tank to maintain the desired concentration therein. For this pur pose any appropriate, constant-rate feeding means may be employed.

The treatment of the present invention is most useful when applied to the B. A.-type wools because, in this case, it serves to convert a wool which can be used only in" minor proportions, if at all, for the manufacture of pile fabric floor coverings, into a wool which can be used substantially in the same way as the conventional carpet wools. However, my treatment is also useful with these conventional carpet wools to decrease their lustre and to enhance their harshmess. The improvement in these properties, however, is not as great in the case of the conven-} tional carpet wools as it is with the South American wools. The treatment is also useful with mixtures of wools of different types.

Wool treated by my process may be spun into yarn which may then be woven as the pile of pile fabric floor coverings, notwithstanding the fact that the original stock was largely or entirely a B. A.-type wool which inherently is incapable of being processed on the conventional carpet manufacturing. apparatus. Such pile has a coarse harsh texture and a lack of lustre far "different from the texture and lustre of untreated B. A.-type wools and comparable with the texture and lack Of lustre of the conventional carpet wools.

Raw B. A.-type wool stock modified by my process may be mixed with conventional carpet wools in all proportions to give a wool mixture suitable for use in forming the pile of pile fabric floor coverings.

By the term B. A.-type wool, as used herein, I mean wool having the characteristics of B. A. wool as regards its soft, slippery nature, its

lustre and its lack of harshness and fullness as contrasted with the conventional carpet wools. I use the term 13. A. wool in its ordinary meaning in the trade, i. e., wool from the Lincoln-type sheep as grown in South America. The B. A.-

type wools available today consist primarily of B. A. wool, and wool from the Lincoln-type sheep as grown in New Zealand.

Although the above specific examples of my process, given by way of illustration and not of limitation, relate to procedures in which the wool is immersed in a bath of the treating liquid, it is not intended thereby to exclude other ways of wetting the wool with the treating solution, such as by sprinkling, spraying, etc.

I claim: j

1. The process for imparting to ,B. A.-type wool the property of harshness requisite for conversion of the wool by standard procedures into pile fabric floor covering, and for decreasing its lustre, which consists essentiall in wetting the wool with an aqueous solution of 1% to 10% of the weight of the wool of titanyl sulfate, said solution being sufliciently dilute to cause substantial hydrolysis of the titanyl sulfate.

2. The process for imparting to B. A.-type wool the property of harshness, requisite for conversion of the wool by standard procedures into pile fabric floorcovering, and for decreasin its lustre, which comprises immersing the wool for approximately 5 to 15 minutes in a boiling bath consisting essentially of an aqueous solution of 1% to 10% of the weight of the wool of titanyl sulfate, said solution being sufficiently dilute to cause a substantial hydrolysis of the titanyl sulfate.

'3. The process as in claim 2 in which lower temperatures and longer periods of time are used.

STUART E. SWANSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,941,285 Teichmann Dec. 26, 1933 1,980,428 Parkinson Nov. 13, 1934 2,068,877 Spence Jan. 26, 1937 2,147,533 Katzoif Feb. 14, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,556 Great Britain 1901 488,836 Great Britain July 14, 1938 Knitted Woolen Goods, J. Soc. Chem. Ind., Aug.

14, 1931, pages 299T-303T, page 300T. especially pertinent. 

1. THE PROCESS FOR IMPARTING TO B. A.-TYPE WOOL THE PROPERTY OF HARSHNESS REQUISITE FOR CONVERSION OF THE WOOL BY STANDARD PROCEDURES INTO PILE FABRIC FLOOR COVERING, AND FOR DECREASING ITS LUSTRE, WHICH CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY IN WETTING THE WOOL WITH AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION OF 1% TO 10% OF THE WEIGHT OF THE WOOL OF TITANYL SULFATE, SAID SOLUTION BEING SUFFICIENTLY DILUTE TO CAUSE SUBSTANTIAL HYDROLYSIS OF THE TITANYL SULFATE. 